The man credited with saving both Apollo 12 and Apollo 13 was forced to resign years later while serving as the Chief of NASA when Texas Senator Robert Krueger blamed him for $500 million of overspending on Space Station Freedom, which later evolved into the International Space Station (ISS).
In 1896, New York passed a law that…
In 1896, New York passed a law that alcohol could only be served on Sunday if it was with a meal. New York taverns then started “selling” inedible sandwiches (served with a drink). The waiter would collect the sandwich at the end of the meal, and serve it the next customer.
The steam iconically shooting…
The steam iconically shooting out of the streets of New York City comes from the underground new york steam system. The 105 mile system of pipes began providing services in 1882, it uses clean water and still delivers steam to over 2,000 city buildings today.
A study found tobacco and tomato…
A study found tobacco and tomato plants emit ultrasonic “squeals” when stressed. Microphones 4″ away picked up the sounds when plants had stems cut/were under-watered: an average of 15 – 25 sounds within 1 hr from cutting, and 11 – 35 sounds per hr from drought.
Einstein hated wearing socks….
Einstein hated wearing socks. In a letter to his wife he said that the reason he stopped wearing them was because his big toe always ended up making a hole in them.
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
All of the actors who played patients in “One Flew over the cuckoos nest” (1975) actually lived on the Oregon State Hospital psychiatric ward throughout production. The men personalized their sleeping quarters, spent their days on campus “get[ting] a sense of what it was to be hospitalized” (as actor Vincent Schiavelli put it), and interacting […]
Danny Devito in “One Flew over the cuckoos nest” film
In “One Flew over the cuckoos nest” (1975) Martini (Danny Devito) was a pilot in the war, his plane was shot down and started to sink in the ocean. Whenever tension rises in the film, martini puts his feet on the chair as if the water started to rise, also as if he were still […]
In 1898, during the Spanish American war…
In 1898, during the Spanish American war, when the USS Charleston fired upon the island of Guam, the Spanish, unaware that a war was going on, rowed out to the ship and asked for gunpowder in order to return the American “salute”.
A fearless goat-herding dog…
A fearless goat-herding dog called Odin refused to abandon his flock of goats during deadly California wildfires in 2017, while his owners ran to safety. Days later his family returned to their destroyed home and found him AND the goats still alive.
Mongolians have a tradition…
Mongolians have a tradition of giving unpleasant names to children born to couples whose previous children have died, to confuse evil spirits. Ex: Muunokhoi – “Vicious Dog”.